Flaming-machine



c Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. WOODBURY, OF WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PLANING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,527, dated June 8, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. VVOODBURY, of Vinchester, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Planing, Tonguing and Grooving Boards, the nature and operation of which I hereby declare to be fully set forth in the following specifica-tion, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, to which the specification and letters refer.

Figure l, of the drawings represents a top view of a planing machine, constructed with my improvements. Fig. 2, a side elevation, Fig. 3, a vertical, longitudinal section, and Fig. 4, an end view of said machine.

In the same, A, denotes the frame of the machine, B, the upper, and C, the lower rotary cutter cylinder, the knives of the former being to reduce the board to the proper thickness, and at the same time, plane its upper surface, while the knives of the lower cylinder, plane the lower surface of said board.

D, D, E, E, denote two sets of pressure rollers, between which, the board passes, while being operated upon by the planing and reducing knives. These rollers and the cutter cylinders, and knives are applied, and operate essentially the same, as in the common and well known lVoodworths planing machines.

F, represents the driving shaft running across the frame A, .and rotating in suitable bearings applied thereto. This shaft receives motion from any suitable power, and has placed upon it, on opposite sides of the frame and close to two driving pulleys c, c, as seen in Fig. l. These pulleys communicate motion to the upper reducing and planing cylinder B, by means of two bands b Z), one of which passes around each driving pulley, and one of two pulleys c, c, placed on the ends of the shaft of the cylinder B. As the knives of the cutter cylinder, act for the purpose of reducing the board to a proper thickness, as well as to plane its upper surface, while the knives of the lower cylinder C, have only to plane the lower surface, they have to be driven to obtain the proper power, by two belts, one placed at each end thereof, as described. Now, while this is necessary, it is also necessary or advantageous, to drive the other cylinder by a pulley at its end, upon, or over which, a band shall work, so thatA the band and pulley may stand close to the frame of the machine,

or as near thereto, as does the-band Z). This is necessary, because if the pulley and band be placed outside of the vertical plane of the band Z), or at a great distance from the side of the bearing in which the shaft runs, too great a transverse strain is brought upon the shaft and boxes. To accomplish this purpose, a pulley has been placed at a considerable distance away from the main frame work of the machine, and a belt run to the same from the driving pulley, another belt being carried back inthe plane of one of the belts driving the other cylinder. This however causes the employment of a very'long band, and the use of aA great space of room. I however, make use of an intermediate shaft (l, runningthrough bearings underneath the machine frame, and having a pulley c, placed on one end (to which and the shaft, motion is communicated by a cross belt f, passing around it, and a similar pulley g, placed on the driving shaft,) and another pulley L, placed on the opposite end thereof, and directly under and in the plane of one of the bands which drives the upper cutter cylinder. A band z', extends from this pulley L, and the pulley 7c, placed on the end of the shaft of the lower cut-ter cylinder, the two pulleys and band, being in the same plane with the two pulleys and bands, on the same side of the machine, employed to aid in driving the upper cylinder. Thus by the use of the intermediate shaft and pulleys, short bands are employed, and the pulley, to the lower cylinder, brought close to the side of the frame, in a position, so that no detrimental st-rain can be produced upon it.

The tonguing and grooving cutters, or cutter stocks are seen at m, n, placed upon horizontal plates o, p, and applied to the top of the vertical shafts g, 1". These shafts turn in boxes or bearings s, s, t, said boxes projecting from two sliding frames or bars, a, o, which slide freely in transverse directions, on two horizontal 'fixed shafts, or ways w,

Applied upon the plates 0, p, and against or contiguous to the cutter stocks, the two vibrating pressure bars, or mouth pieces G, H, as seen in Fig. l. Each of these pressure bars, is hinged-to the plate o, or p, under it, by a oint pin 2, and has a bearing face a, or b', at its front edge. A spring c2, is applied to each bar in any sultable manner, so as to keep the front bearing face up against the edge of the board, as it is passing in front of it, in being tongued or grooved. The bearing face projects or extends up nearly to the line of the cutting path of the knives of the stocks m, n., and the hinge is applied in a direction radially opposite to the point where the cutters act, as seen in Fig. l, so that the pressure of the bar, shall keep at very nearly the same distance from the cut of the knives, during its vibrations in, and out of the short curves or crooks in the edge of the board being grooved. rlhe forward edges of the two pressure bars, are made with projections to fit the tonguing and grooving knives of the cutter stocks as seen at 7L. The purpose of these pressure bars, is to prevent the tearing or splitting of the fiber on the boards, by the action of the tonguing and grooving knives which they do by setting up as near as practicable to the path of said knives, and pressing upon the edge of the board in such proximity as to hold the fiber firmly as the board progresses and is cut. From the necessary narrow width of the knives, and the edge they cut, the draw of the knife, without this pressure, is very apt to tear, and split to a very injurious extent, the split often extending, beyond the tongue or groove, into the edge of the board.

In cutting the rabbet upon each side of the tongued side, and the groove in the grooved side, and especially in cutting the rabbets, there is a tendency in the knives severing the edge of the shavings, to produce such a drawing strain upon the adj acent tongues of wood as to split them o. In cutting out the rabbets on each side of the tongue, a knife operating at either side thereof at the same time, makes .it almost impossible to produce the tonguing and grooving in a perfect manner, without something to hold the tongue or the fiber of the tongue back. But with the pressure applied to the tongues, while the cutters are reducing the adjacent portions of wood, the liber at the edges of the tongue is held back preventing any such tendency to tear. The board in being fed to the action of the grooving, tonguing, reducing, and planing knives, has one edge placed against a stationary longitudinal guard I, placed on top of the cross bars H, H, of the frame A. Said guard causing the board to be fed in a straight line to the action of the grooving or tonguing cutter, m or n, at the side of the machine at which it ,is placed, or in other words, causing the cutter to cut a straight tongue or groove in ad plane parallel to the edge of the guard, instead of cutting into the curves of the side of the board. At the opposite side of the machine, a corresponding movable guide L, is placed. This guide is made to turn or swivel on the shafts 1 of the cutter stock. This guard is made to extend a little distance beyond the shaft 0n which it turns up to, or about to,

or between the front pressure rollers. Now, when atapering board is run into the machine, one edge being brought against the adjacent edge of the stationary guides and the edge of the swivel guide being brought by a spring weight or other contrivance, up against ,its opposite edge, the tongue or groove on the tapering side, being cut upon a straight line, parallel to the edge of the guide, in the same manner, as is the corresponding tongue or groove on the opposite side thereof. By making the guard to swivel as described, and extend beyond the shaft of the cutter stock, it is made selfworking after the board has reached the Glitter stock, and is kept up against the general line of the adjacent edge of the board, whatever may be its taper.

The under cutter stock C, is placed at or near one end of the frame for a special purpose which is, that the cutters may be readily got at for the purpose of changing, arranging or sharpening them without being obliged to remove the bed which is placed above the cutter.

Great inconvenience has been experienced in all machines heretofore constructed which plane both sides of a board at the same time, arising from the fact that, no arrangement has been made to get at the under cutter from the end of the machine, but the operator has been obliged to approach the under cutter from the side of the machine, which is necessarily encumbered by belting gearing, &c. making the operation of sharpening, arranging, &c. exceedingly inconvenient, and causing great loss of time and consequent increase of expense. All the above difficulties are cornpletely overcome in my new arrangement of placing the under cutter upon the end of the machine, or in such a position that no permanent cross pieces shall be interposed between the under cutter and the end of the frame to prevent the operator from approaching the cutter in that direction thus enabling him to get at the cutter in a convenient manner and to sharpen adjust or arrange the same with great economy of time.

What I claim as my invention is 1. Protecting the edge of the board in tonguing and grooving; by pressure surfaces constructed and operating with rotary cutters, as described.

2. The swivel guide L, when made to operate substantially as described.

8. Placing the under cutter at or near the end of the frame for the purpose specified, substantially as described.

JAMES A. WOODBURY.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS GOULD, NATHAN A. DYAR. 

